When you’re looking to buy a GPS device for your truck the first thing to realize is that it’s not the same as buying a standard GPS.

If you’re a truck driver you know you have special requirements and unique challenges when it comes to navigation. So it’s important you get a device that works, is reliable and doesn’t lead you astray, either missing your destination, costing you time or hitting you up with fines for driving restricted roads.

Trucks are big but when it comes to really big trucks you can’t go past dump trucks. They rule the roost when it comes to overall size, particularly height and weight.

Most can be found working opencast mines around the world where their size is not always apparent – dwarfed by even larger diggers and cranes they might even look small from a distance. But get up close and personal and you really start to appreciate that these trucks are most definitely the heavyweights of the trucking world. Most people can barely reach halfway up a tire wall. With diesel engines that weigh as much as 25,000 pounds and up to 12 turbochargers these aren’t your average suburban shopping trolleys.

TPMS stands for Tire Pressure Monitoring System and has become compulsory in many vehicles since the year 2000 due to stricter legislation around vehicle safety systems, particularly in the wake of fatal accidents involving significantly underinflated tires.

The benefits of TPMS have been recognized by most car and truck makers with most vehicles manufactured since 2007 equipped with TPMS as standard equipment. Its universally-recognized alert icon now appears on thousands of dashboards around the world, giving drivers an easy way to know if and when tires are not properly inflated.

Why is it important, and how can fleet owners take advantage of this technology to improve overall fleet safety and fuel economy?

There’s no question that fuel is a precious commodity. Rising gas prices only make it more crucial for trucking fleets to carefully manage how fuel is acquired and consumed. Fortunately technology is making it a lot easier for fleet owners to control their fuel purchases, with greater accountability and reporting to highlight areas that need attention.

Why consider switching to using a fuel card program to manage and monitor your gas purchases?

Joe runs a delivery business for a beverage company. He has 12 drivers. He pays his drivers based on the number of cases they deliver, which varies between seasons. Between them they have 1000 cases to deliver in the low season, rising to 3000 during the peak months.

Joe has a problem. How does he keep all his drivers occupied evenly year round, while keeping operating costs to a minimum?

The FMCSA has released their final ruling on the maximum number of driving hours from 82 down to 70 in an effort to combat accidents caused by fatigued truck drivers.

The ruling comes after many months of public consultation and modifications to CSA 2010.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the final HOS ruling on December 22, 2011, basing it on the latest research in driver fatigue and replacing the existing FMCSA hours-of-service (HOS) safety requirements for commercial truck drivers.

Truck owners know that when you pay all the bills you realize how costly running a truck can be. Multiply that by hundreds and it’s not surprising to know that trucking fleet owners are constantly keeping an eye out for ways to reduce fuel costs.

With oil prices topping $95 a barrel recently, pushed by higher seasonal demand and hints of stability in European financial markets, it is just another reminder to truck owners, in fact anyone in the freight industry, that fuel costs need to be managed if a fleet (or single owner/operator) is to remain profitable.

It has almost been a year since CSA 2010 was introduced to all carriers throughout the U.S. It was progressively rolled out through 2010 and modified several times to make the system more workable for both government agencies and truck owners.

Has it been successful? Has it achieved its aims of Compliance, Safety, and Accountability? Many experts in the industry have warned of the dangers of receiving a poor CSA ranking, but how has it really affected fleets? Is it taking dangerous drivers, or unsafe carriers off the road?

There’s ongoing discussions about converting commercial fleets to electric vehicles (EV). Most companies seem to be taking a wait and see approach to see how the technology develops and the infrastructure establishes itself to make it a viable option. The case for smaller EVs is obviously making progress, even if it isn’t as fast as some would like. But what about heavy duty OTR fleets? Will they be converting aging diesel trucks to electricity anytime soon?

More and more companies are being exposed as being guilty of greenwashing. In fact, a report issued in 2009 by TerraChoice, a North American environmental marketing agency, assessed more than 2000 products and found that 98 percent were guilty of greenwashing. The damage to a company’s reputation if exposed as a greenwasher could be extremely costly, both in dollars and customer loyalty.

What is a truck?

Stupid question right? Well maybe but the word truck can mean different things to different people. Some only think of large, long-haul trucks. Others think of SUVs commonly seen around town like a Chevy Suburban or Toyota Sequoia. Or there are pickup trucks with a flatbed on the back. If you're from the U.K. you'll probably be thinking lorry.

At TruckGPS.org it means all those things. It looks at how commercial truck drivers and their fleet managers face unique challenges, challenges that can be met using GPS technology.

Truck GPS can help with turn-by-turn navigation, dispatching, preventative maintenance as well as monitoring the mechanical health of your vehicle. Fleet managers can use it to keep their trucks secure, operating efficiently and fully utilized.

If you have any topics you'd like covered or questions about using GPS with your work truck, please contact us.